Why does BB disable webcams?

Went to look at a few laptops at Best Buy yesterday. I wanted to try the webcam on a couple, but it turns out they use a display-model software that disables the webcam.

I understand they use a program to reset the computers after customers fool around with them all day, but why disable the webcam completely? And the sales guys CLAIM it can't be worked around unless they do a new installation.

For example, I was looking at an Asus (G73jh) that advertises a 2.0 MP webcam, but BB has a cheaper version. I wanted to try the BB model and see if the webcam was ok. Couldn't do it.

I did go into Device Manager and see that the BB model was only 1.3 MP.

Anyway, does anybody know why BB disables the webcams?

 

Probably as a privacy thing, so people don't take photos and then accidentally leave them on the laptop for all others to see.

But I can vouch for the webcam on the BB G73 is you want...simply put, it's terrible. However, if a major selling point on a laptop for you is the webcam, then you'd probably be best off with an external webcam anyway. An integrated webcam is like integrated graphics - it does the job for light applications and uses, but generally is pretty darn inferior to dedicated for the purpose it's created for.

 

Thanks for the info, Shadow, on the BB G73. In this case, I was curious about where Asus was saving to get the BB price down to $500 less than the fully rigged online models.

I do like a webcam that works well enough for Skype, etc. I am not expecting cinema quality, but the webcam has become standard, it is still a selling point, and consumers should not settle for total, blurry garbage.

We end up having to spend extra, after shelling out hundreds and hundreds, for headset mics, external sound cards, and on an on. All of which takes away from the easy portability we are paying for.

I'm disappointed at the quality of keyboards these days too, and it is a shame that consumers are collectively settling for overall low quality in order to have a specific CPU or GPU under a certain price poinit.

The BB experience with the webcam just highlights how difficult it is to "test drive" a laptop and to find out before buying what you are getting for your money.

BTW, I do think the BB G73jh, which now has the i7-740QM, is one of the best deals out there for a good all around laptop, not just a gaming machine. (But then again, when I see vids of how flimsy the keyboard is on something that costs more than $1k, I get aggravated!) Note that the newest BB version does have a 5400 rpm HDD.

 

I suspect they also disable them to keep people from recording smart- clips. Both to avoid offensive crap showing up AND wasting the disk space.

That and I could imagine BB having been threatened with a lawsuit by someone whose picture had been taken at the store and somehow 'misused'.

It is indeed difficult to do anything like a real 'test drive' on retail store display machines. I asked among associates to get a hands-on with some stuff. I went with a Thinkpad T420 as a result.

 

Unfortunately, for every person with a honest and noble reason for testing the webcam there are ten people who will do less than amicable things with it.

This is why we can't have nice things

 

what is BB?

 

Best Buy

Mr. Mysterious

 

So you can't see crappy the quality is

 

Cheers Mr M, I sort of guessed it was a retail outlet.

I reckon its blocked to protection. There are some sick people in the world. It could be used inappropriately